Further background on raising the minimum wage is available for the nonprofit alliance "$5.15 is not enough!" located at: www.515isnotenough.org

Many counties and municipalities are passing support resolutions to forward the Senate and Governor. To date local resolutions have been passed in City of Rochester, County of Monroe, Town of Brighton, County of Albany, County of Rensselaer, County of Tompkins, County of Rockland, Village of Haverstraw, City of Syracuse, County of Westchester (unanimous) and City of Rome. And now also so has the Village of Croton-on-Hudson.

I will be introducing the following resolution at the Greenburgh Town Board meeting on Wednesday, April 14^th at 7:15 PM at Greenburgh Town Hall. I’m hopeful that other communities will adopt similar resolutions. ----------

 
Resolution in support of an raising the Minimum Wage in the State of New York.

WHEREAS, The federal minimum hourly wage, currently $5.15 an hour, is not indexed to preserve its purchasing power and has not been raised since 1997; and

WHEREAS, the State of New York has not altered its minimum wage since 2000 when it matched the $5.15 of the federal minimum wage; and

WHEREAS, The inflation-adjusted value of the minimum wage is approaching the lowest point in a half century and is 40% below the peak level reached in 1968; and

WHEREAS, Nationally low-wage workers (those earning the 20th percentile hourly wage) saw their wages increase 5.5 percent in real terms (inflation adjusted) between 1989 and 1999, while, in contrast, the State of New York’s low-wage workers’ wages declined 5.5 percent over the same period; and

WHEREAS, The poverty rate in the State of New York rose from 13 to 14.6 percent during the 1990s resulting in more than 2.6 million New Yorkers were living in poverty in 1999, while, in contrast, the national poverty rate fell from 13.1 percent to 12.4 percent in the same decade; and

WHEREAS, A higher minimum wage would help insure that work represents a path toward self-sufficiency and serve as part of a broader strategy to fight poverty; and

WHEREAS, Studies by public-health researchers of minimum wage increases and living wage laws in California suggest that a higher minimum wage results in better health for low-wage workers, and significantly improves the chances that their children will graduate from high school; and

WHEREAS, Twelve states plus the District of Columbia already have minimum wages above the current $5.15 federal level, including Connecticut ($7.10), Massachusetts ($6.75), California, Washington ($7.16), Delaware ($6.15), and Illinois ($5.50); and

WHEREAS, Increasing the minimum wage will not reduce employment opportunities for the working poor, as other states that raised their minimum wage did not suffered job losses related to raising their minimum wages; and

WHEREAS, A minimum wage increase would disproportionately help retail employees, like clerks and waiters/waitresses, because of those who would likely benefit from a minimum wage increase, 36 percent, or 380,000, work in the retail sector and more than 85 percent of those who would benefit from a higher minimum wage are non-union; and

WHEREAS, Over three quarters (79 percent) of the new legislation’s beneficiaries would be adults not teenagers, and more than half work full-time while another 27 percent work between 20 and 34 hours per week and a high percentage of minimum wage earners are the main breadwinners for their families, and 61 percent of the likely beneficiaries are women; and.

WHEREAS, Minimum wage legislation that increases the state minimum from $5.15 to $7.10 would directly benefit approximately 750,000 New Yorkers, and due to likely spillover effects, an additional 530,000 persons, those earning from $7.10 to $8.10, would also gain, and these 1.2 million beneficiaries of a minimum wage increase represent over 15 percent of New York State employment; and

WHEREAS, A 1998 survey of small businesses by the Levy Institute found that fewer than one-third of 1% reported having reduced employment because of the 1996-97 increases in the minimum wage; and

WHEREAS, In its 1999 Economic Report to the President, the Council of Economic Advisors concluded: "the weight of the evidence suggests that modest increases in the minimum wage have had very little or no effect on employment"; and

WHEREAS, A minimum wage increase partially pays for itself through improved worker retention, reduced turnover, savings in recruitment and training costs, and higher worker productivity; and

WHEREAS, A minimum wage this year that yielded the same earning power that it delivered at its peak in 1968 would be over $9.00 per hour; and the minimum wage was established to retain the dignity of work, so that working men and women could care for themselves and their families but it has not succeeded in this goal and the present minimum wage does not reflect the high cost of living.

WHEREAS, On March 1st, 2004 by a vote of 127-19, the New York State Assembly passed A09710, a bill that would raise the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.10 an hour after January 1, 2006; and

WHEREAS, the  Town of Greenburgh recognizes the value to its community in promoting a strengthened market for labor, now

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED:  that the Greenburgh Town Board, meeting in regular session on the 14th day of April 2004, does hereby declare its support for raising the minimum hourly wage in the State of New York; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: that the Greenburgh Town Board supports State Senate Bill 3291C, which would raise New York State’s minimum wage to $7.10 an hour over the next two years; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That the  Greenburgh Town Board urges timely passage of this bill in the 2004 legislative session.